West Seattle restaurants: Firefly Café and Creperie almost ready to roll

Construction is done for her soon-to-open restaurant on the northeast corner of California/Genesee on the north edge of THe Junction.

She’s awaiting plumbing and electrical inspections.

And as soon as those are passed, she can get ready for the final hurdle: The health inspection.

Otherwise, Firefly is ready to take flight. The menu’s even up (top photo) – sweet, savory, build-your-own, and a sizable portion of vegan/gluten-free offerings – but it’s more than crepes:

Firefly first came to light back in June. Its road to reality has generated, among other things, a thick folder of paperwork, including specs from all the different types of equipment they’ve needed – Charell is a first-time restaurateur.

When we visited this week, she and her family were working busily on a variety of fronts. Daughter Shay(below right, with Charell) is part of the team:

The cozy corner shop, in a space that hasn’t been open to the public since Divina was there a few years back, will have most of its dine-in seating in a back room that is set up with a cozy living-room feel – even the fireplace you can see in the photo of Charell and Shay. Art will grace the walls – and Charell’s working on a program to offer space to local student artists who’ll be free to sell it without Firefly taking a cut.

Elsewhere, rustic furniture lends character (treasures found on Craigslist, Charell confides). And they’re continuing to practice, from crepes to coffee.

Along with the crepes, other offerings include soup and salad. The coffee is Zoka; the tea is TeaSource; Wine Country non-alcoholic sodas are on the menu (see it here) as well. Charell says she’s worked hard to find local suppliers, “as close to West Seattle as possible,” for ingredients – such as Wheatless in Seattle, and Hot Cakes’ vegan caramel sauce.

For the vegan/gluten-free offerings, Charell is proud that they have perfected recipes so that those crepes are both. Read the menu’s details, and you’ll see nut cheese, cashew cream, tempeh. There’s even a healthy homage to Elvis – “The King,” with banana, sun butter, vegan chocolate, and cashew cream. (What? No bacon? Just kidding.)

She’s also proud of what they’ve learned along the way in terms of the process – patience, in particular: “Every step of the way.”

What’s next? Once they get word Firefly has passed the plumbing/electrical inspections, and the subsequent health inspection, they’ll have a very low-key soft open, and if that goes well, they’ll open up the following day. Charell is certain that’ll happen before month’s end.

And once they’re up and running smoothly, there’s something else she wants to add to the menu of what Firefly will be known for – monthly volunteer events. Plans are already in the works for another way to give to the community — donating any food that would otherwise go to waste, to Food Lifeline, for redistribution via the White Center (South Delridge) Salvation Army center.

can’t wait for this place to open.
so glad they have plain ol’ butter and sugar crepe. always my favorite: my post bar hopping snack in Paris.
can’t even get plan butter and sugar at the crepe place down in the market.

george, regarding celiac, this note appears on the menu on their webpage:

“*caution to folks with sensitivities to or allergic reactions from gluten or animal bi-products: This notice is to inform you that at this time, Firefly Café & Creperie is not able to provide a separate food preparation area for vegan/gf menu items. all menu items are prepared on the same griddle & kitchen space.”

I remember the Spudnut shop! Best big raised yeast donuts anywhere. They were a handful. The owner kneaded the dough in the window. Stopped there on many wet, cold days for a warm donut and mug of hot chocolate while walking home from WSHS. Made those last blocks doable.
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glad to see the creperie going in there. See you soon.

The postings about the prices for this place are very misleading, from what we can see on the board through the window, you get an crepe for $2 with nothing in it,just the crepe, to add things like eggs or ham or vegetables etc…is $2 and $3 each, and to have one that is on the menu already $8.50 is the minimum, which is kind of high for West Seattle. Like Fiddlehead, the new breakfast place near the junction, we walked out of, we were shocked at the price of biscuits and gravy, $9.50 and you have to stand in line and order and serve yourself. We owned a restaurant in West Seattle for years until our retirement and recognize the cost of food prices in restuarants is just outrageous! We’ll stick to breakfast at Be’s where biscuts and gravy are still $4.50